Shaft-coupling



; G. E. GEE.

No. 318,975. Patented June 2, 1885..

-ilnrrnn Starts Parent @rrieno CHARLES E. GEE, OF LOW ELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHAFT-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,975, dated June 2, 1885.

Application filed January 28, 1585. (No model.)

To 0.0% whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. GEE, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shaft-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to shalt-couplings; and it consists in the combinations and construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an isometric view of myimproved shaft-coupling connecting two shafts; Fig. 2, an end view of said coupling; Fig. 3, a central section on the line X X in Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a section on the line Y Yin Fig. 3; Fig. 5, an isometric view of one of the thimbles.

The coupling hereinafter described is somewhat similar to that shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 17,236, granted May 5, 1857, to William Sellers and Coleman Sellers, for improvement in couplings for shafting, but is simpler in construction.

A A are two adjacent lengths of the same line of shafting.

Bis an inner sleeve, having a cylindrical bore, and is connected midway between its ends by a web, B, to an outer sleeve, B, the two sleeves B B being concentric with each other, and the web being at right angles to the axis of said sleeve. The inner sleeve tapers from the web to its ends, and is secured to the shaft by a key, B in the usual manner. The outer surface of the outer sleeve, B", is nearly cylindrical, which allows of its being used to carry a belt. The shaft of the inner surface of said outer'sleeve is immaterial, except that it should flare from the web toward the ends sufficiently to allow the pattern from which it is molded to be drawn from the sand.

The piece 0, which consists of the outer sleeve, B, the inner sleeve, B, and the web B, is slotted at B from end to end of said sleeve nearly through the same. The web B is provided with three or more bolt-holes, c c c, at equal distances from each other and from the center of the web, one of which holes, 0', may be an enlargement of the slot B.

. In each end of the piece 0, around the inner sleeve, B, is inserted a thimble, D D. Each thimble D is provided with a central conical or tapering bore, d, large enough to receive and lit closely an end of the inner sleeve, B. The shape of the outer surface of the thimble D is immaterial, as it does not come in contact with the outer sleeve, B. Each thimble is provided with as many boltslots d as there are bolt-holes cin the web B, and these bolt-slots run from end to end of the thimbles, and open into the central bore, cl, of said thimble, and are so arranged in said thimble that the slots d of one thimble may be in the same line with the bolt-holes in the web and the bolt-slots of the other thimble.

Through the bolt-slots and bolt-holes are placed bolts E E, having screw-threaded ends 6 e, which project beyond the outer ends of the thimbles.

On the ends 0 c of the bolts E are turned nuts F against the outer ends of the thimbles, drawing said thimbles toward each other over the tapering ends of the inner sleeve, B, causing the latter to close upon the shafts, and securing the adjacentends of the two lengths of shafting together. 7

The piece 0 may be of cast-iron; but the thimbles are preferably of steel, and may be drop-forged.

The coupling above described may be used to connect two shafts of different sizes, and the inner sleeve being split entirely through on opposite sides allows of the ends of the sleeve being unequally contracted to a greater extent than if the sleeve were split only on one side, and the bolts do not interfere with the closing of the slots in said sleeve.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a sleeve divided longitudinally into halves, said halves being connected by a web and tapering from said web toward the ends, two thimbles having tapering bores and internal longitudinal bolt-slots, bolts having threaded ends, and nuts turning upon said threaded ends against the outer faces of said thimbles, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of an inner sleeve, adapted to receive the adjacent ends of two lengths of the same line of shafting, and an outer sleeve concentric with said inner sleeve,

a Web connecting said outer and inner sleeves near the middle of the same, and provided with bolt-holes, said inner sleeve, outer sleeve, and web being slotted from end to end of said sleeves, said inner sleeve tapering from said web to the outer ends of said sleeve, two thimbles having tapering bores, and internal longitudinal bolt-slots, bolts having threaded ends and placed in said boltslots, and nuts turning upon said threaded ends of said bolts '0 against said thimbles, as and for the purpose specified.

CHARLES E.- GEE. W'itnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, KIRKLEY HYDE. 

